Jump to

Abstract

Background The use of stem cells has gained much interest as a potential therapeutic approach for repair of damage caused by a variety of cardiac insults. We and others have demonstrated the ability of pluripotent adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), to promote repair in ischemic skeletal tissues. Here we demonstrate that ASCs also stimulate a robust functional improvement following acute myocardial infarction (MI) in rats.

Conclusion We have demonstrated that ASCs have great potential as a cell therapy to preserve heart function following ischemic insult. Given the abundant source of ASCs, therapies with these cells have a higher potential for widespread adoption compared to more rare cell types.